When it comes to business blogging, how much time do people put into creating posts? How long are their articles? What goes into them? How often do they publish new content? How do they promote their posts? Do they measure the results?

The answers to any and all of the questions deliver interesting insights on the state of digital marketing. And thanks to the work of Orbit Media Studios, this data has been collected, made available and fun to consume.

For three years running, Andy Crestodina — the web design and development company’s co-founder — and his team have surveyed 1000+ bloggers about how they create content and compiled their findings into blog posts, infographics, and SlideShares. Let’s take a look at some of the trends over the years …

Business Blogging: A Look at Trends From 2014, 2015 & 2016

2014 …

The typical blogger published several posts per week. 5% published daily.

80% were creating content of 1,000 words or less.

Social media was the most common promotion tactic, typically used by 94% of bloggers.

Andy told us, for bloggers, blogging isn’t a job; it’s a lifestyle. His research indicated bloggers were writing and producing posts everywhere, all the time.

2015 …

In 2015, Crestodina and I collaborated on an infographic to present the key findings, which reported:

Average time writing blog posts increased to 2.5 hours.

The number of bloggers publishing daily (or more) increased.

Blog posts of 1,500 or more words increased by 72%.

The use of images increased.

The research indicated more blogging was done during normal work hours. The findings at large inspired Andy to conclude, “Blogging is becoming a more serious, formal discipline.” He also said best practices were emerging.

2016 …

The 2016 results came together in November, and you can find a detailed analysis of the findings here. Once again, we have created an infographic, making its debut below.

I’ll allow it to reveal the findings, which have evolved to include the tactics that business bloggers believe produce the strongest results.

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